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Lawrence Co. to add new jobs

An auto parts company announced it will invest $31 million in a Lawrence County production facility that could be expanded in the future, said a county official.

TPR Federal-Mogul Tennessee Inc., a joint effort between TPR Co. LTD, which is based out of Japan but has American operations in Illinois, and the Michigan-based Federal-Mogul Corporation, made the announcement late last week. The new facility should create about 72 jobs for the area.

Daniel Webb, the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce president, said the 156,000-square-foot manufacturing plant will be located at 201 Helton Drive in Lawrenceburg. The company, which will be known as TFT at the Lawrenceburg plant, has been looking for a site in the county for about a year, Webb said.

In May, the company purchased the building which previously housed two metal companies, Webb said.

“We are excited to have them here and add them to our industrial base,” Webb said. “We are excited about the diversity and the jobs it will bring to our community.”

The Lawrenceburg plant is slated to produce cylinder liners for aluminum block engines and will house foundry, machining and warehousing functions.

J. Mack Chandler, the Lawrence County executive, said it will give the county a much-needed economic boost.

“We are going to start out with 72 jobs, and we are hoping somewhere down the line they will expand,” Chandler said. “We’ve got a lot of people that’s out of work, and this will give families the hope they have been looking for, which is a place to work.”

Lawrence County has a workforce of about 16,810 people, of which about 1,820 are unemployed, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s most recent statistics. The unemployment rate for May stood at 10.8 percent, a 0.2 percent increase from April. Statistics for June are scheduled for release later this week.

Starting this month through December, construction will take place at the facility, getting it ready for equipment installation, which is scheduled to take place from January-April 2013, Webb said. Operations should begin in May of that year, he said.

The company is currently hiring for maintenance, production supervisors, engineering, accounting and management positions, Webb said. Hiring for production jobs should begin closer to December, he said.

To apply for the positions, resumes may be sent to humanresources@tprfmtn.com. Applicants should include the position they are applying for in the body of the email.